But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some good suggestions and established conventions for Fender amp owners.

We’ll try and cover some of those suggestions here in order to offer as much information as possible about the ideal Fender amp settings.

RESOURCES I USED FOR THIS POST & RECOMMEND

FOR AMP MODELING: All the amp models in this post were built using the Amplitube software from IK Multimedia. You can download the base software and Custom Shop for free to search through all of their different amp models, cabs and effects.

FOR RESEARCH: I routinely refer to Guitar Trick's courses and video lessons for my own study and research. They have a massive library of video lessons, courses and even song tutorials that they'll let you try for free.

Which amps?

This article is going to focus on a few mainstays of the Fender lineup.

If you own one of their amps, chances are good that you have something from one of the following series:

These amps are some of the more popular and longstanding choices available from the company and are largely responsible for crafting the “Fender sound.”

Thus, it’s fair to say that if you don’t at least own a Fender amp - better yet, one of the four just mentioned - this article doesn’t apply to you. Some small all tube amps can still mimic the original tone, but the sound is still really specific to the Fender design.

I’m not trying to say, “this is how you get the Fender sound out of any amp.”

Rather I’m talking about the optimal configurations for actual Fender guitar amps, assuming you already own one.

Now that we’re all clear on expectations, lets talk a little bit about the magic six.

I do know that the magic six works great for Fender amps for the following reasons:

Cuts the bass: Fender amps (which are usually tube amps) are smooth but, often push a lot of low end. Cutting the bass can help even things out.

Cuts the mids: It’s complex but cutting the mid-range down (particularly with distorted sounds) will help to balance out volume and intensity between higher and lower strings.

Balancing treble: Having treble a bit higher than mid and bass gives your Fender amp that bright appeal that Marshall’s are so popular for. It balances out the smoothness of the tubes and adds some bite on the high end.

Ok -- so what are the magic six settings?

Here are the numbers:

Volume: 6 / Treble: 6 / Mids: 3 / Bass: 2

Mids x bass = six.

If you read what the guy had to say from the single coil website (link posted above) it’s a lot of math and technical jargon that I don’t think is necessary to understand.

Some guy on a forum said it was like having Spock dial in the perfect tone, and I would agree.

But all you need to know is that it works.

I also think that having the bass and mid a bit lower can really help on Fender amplifiers, even though I’m typically a fan of more bass in a guitar tone.

Could you use more gear help?

Producing “great tone” is a worthy pursuit, but not always an obvious one.

We all own a unique collection of gear that seems to sound different all the time. That’s normal, but still something we need to learn to deal with.

We need to learn our gear.

If you want to access some resources that will help dealing with a specific tonal pursuit, piece of gear or other questions related to your rig, I’d recommend giving Guitar Tricks 14-day free trial a test run - there’s no obligations and you’ve got nothing to lose - except two free weeks of one of the most comprehensive and thorough guitar education websites in existence.